Thread protector



` 50 lacquer.

Patented ocr. 11, 193s John M,

tion of New Jersey THREAD rno'rEc'ron Shimer, Dallas, Tex., assignor to il Well Supply Company,

Dallas, Tex., a corpora- Appu'eauon April a, 1931, seran No. v135,992 I 1 Claim.

My invention relates to an article which may be placed on the threaded portions of externally threaded articles such, for example, as the thread ends of pipe or sucker rods, or of connecting t- 5 tings, in order to prevent the injury ofthe threads during handling or shipping.Y

In order to prevent injury to the screwthreads of articles of the above type, they have generally been protected with a coating of lacquer or grease and then an internally threaded' collar has been Ascrewed tightly on so as to cover all of the screwthreads'. This adds quite considerably to the cost of handling and shipping the articles, not only due to the cost of the metal and the manufacture 1 5 of the thread protectors and to the added weight in shipping, but also because the threadingof the protectors onto the threaded articles requires considerable labor. In some cases where the articles are small, such as various types of pipe iittings forv oil production, the articles'have been separately packed, thus requiring individual packages instead of the internally screwthreaded metalprotectors.

' In my present invention I provide a relatively cheap, light-weight thread protector which can be very easily and quickly inserted on the threaded portion of an article `tobe protected,

y and which effectively guards the threads against injury. The thread protector ofmy inventionV comprises a covering in the shape of a collar of .resilient, stretchable material, such as a softly .vul-

canized rubber, which can be expanded and slipped over the threaded end of the article and which, because of its resiliency, is tenaciously Aretained thereon. Preferably, the internal diameter of the protector'is somewhat less than the external diameter of the screwthread so thatwhen it is in place, it tends to grip the threaded por- 40 tion of the article. One end of the protector may The article to be protected by the rubber cap or protector may be covered with a rust preventing coating, such as grease or lacquer, preferably protector to grip the article tends to seal it against the entrance of moisture `and thus to add greatly tothe protecting action of the lacquer, or even to render the lacquer 55 The various features of the invention are illus- HOW/erf the nden ofthe rubber threads, asfindicated in Fig. 4,1t may be muy 50 placed in vposition on the articles.

(c1. 13s-se) trated by way of examplein the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective view .of the end of a tubular article. such as a pipe, protected by the thread protectorof my invention, a portion of the latter being broken away to show its relation to the screwthreads.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through a pipe protector of my invention.

Fig. 3 is a llongitudinal section of an end por- 10 tion of a modiiied form of embodiment of the thread protector of my'invention.

Fig. 4 is asimilar view of the thread protector mounted on a threaded article such as a pipe.

In the drawing the invention is illustrated as 15` applied'to a pipe I0 having screwthreads Ii at one end. A collar shaped pr'otector I2 of soft vulcanized rubber is vexpanded and slipped over the threaded portion of the pipe i0 and may extend to a certain extent over the unthreaded por- 20 tion. .As shown in Fig. 2, the protector i2 may be merely a straight cylindrical length of rubber of the proper diameter. However, it preferably has an inturned ange I3, as shown in Figs. 3

and 4, to abut the end of the pipe ill and thus 25A builering action. f

Consequently, the walls of the protector-may be made thinner without endangering the protective action, and an economy` in the weight of the pro- Y tectors may be obtained. Also, the ange tends 35 to seal the end of the pipe and to ensure that the protector will be placed in proper position, as it would be a natural reaction for any one applying the protector to push it into'place until stoppedl by the flange.

Not only -is the protector for use on long arti'- cles, such as lengths of pipe,-. tubing or rods, but itV may also be used to protect the externally threaded ends or portions of short articles such 1 as .reducing nipples and other articles. When thus protected these ttings may be shipped and handled in bulk instead of being individually packaged as has-heretofore been customary.

.Although the protector tends to grip the This is due to the fact that the rubber, being resilient and strethable may he expanded to, or slightly 'greater than, the diameter of the pipe, then slippedover-the end voi.' the pipe and released/55 whereupon it'wili gdr-:the threaded end portion comprising a sleeve consisting of elastic material tightly. of diameter than the threaded portion of the Through mi invention, therefore, I-have proarticle and adapted t0 be'applied thereto by 5 position, and that is iight in weight and inefxtion of the article. said sleeve being retained in 5 pensive. t i 'position solely by its inherent resiliency. WhatIclaimis- Y* i i .v i Arprotector for an threaded article if JOHN M. SEIMER. W

videdga. proteltor that can be easily plaoed'in stretching ofthe sleeve over the vtiireadedpor- 

